//------------------------------//
// Post-Battle 
// Story: The Human Side of Things 
// by Gylden Glor 
//------------------------------//

	I hear a pair of hooves descending the stone stairs behind me. I turn my head, and see that Fluttershy has chosen to join me.
"Hi," she says softly. "You, uh...you left..."
I smile as I see her necklace. "Your Element necklace is nice," I announce.
"Oh...thank you...but...why did you leave?"
I shrug. "I needed to have a moment alone. Y'know, away from the insanity of the day? I was getting tired of all the crap going on today."
Fluttershy smiles sympathetically as she sits down next to me. I'm already on my butt on the ground, slumping against the side of the castle in relaxation, so it's very convenient.
"Do you miss your family?" She asks, softly.
"Not at all," I respond with a light chuckle. "If anything I'm relieved to be away from them...they were totally crazy. Half of them were crack addicts, the other half were prostitute addicts."
Fluttershy blushes as she paws at the floor. "Oh...I'm sorry..."
"It's fine," I inform her. "I'm happy here. I don't have to worry about finding out that another one of my cousins has broken out of rehab..."
Fluttershy smiles as she gently nuzzles my shoulder. "I'm glad that you're happy..."
I smile at her, and rub her shoulder with a gentle hand. We remain silent, my arm wrapped around her in a gentle embrace and her head resting on my shoulder. It's not until we hear hooves coming down the stairs that I stand.

"Peter, you should come meet Princess Celestia," Twilight Sparkle announces. "Come on."
I nod, and follow her up the stairs. Once we arrive in the area where we fought Nightmare Moon, I see that a large white alicorn (Twilight explained the terminology to me a while ago) is standing next to a smaller, blue alicorn.
"Hello, Peter," the white one announces. "My name is Celestia. I am the Princess of the Sun. This is my sister, Luna. Princess of the Moon."
I give them a respectful nod, but I don't bow.
"Peter, bow!" Twilight urges. I cock an eyebrow at her.
"I'm sorry, but I don't do bows," I inform her, loudly enough for the Princesses to hear. "Just a character flaw."
Celestia chuckles lightly. "We understand, Peter," she announces. "I am sure you are aware of Luna's state?"
I nod in agreement. "Yep. I know she was Nightmare Moon, and I'm glad to see her as herself again."
"And I would like to thank you for freeing me, Peter," Luna announces. "And I would like to apologize for terrorizing you and your friends..."
I shrug. "Whatever. It's fine. Besides, they needed to be messed with a bit." I give her a wink, and she giggles a bit. "Besides, I thoroughly enjoyed some of it. But those trees were a bit corny, don't you think?" I grin in success as she snorts in laughter. Celestia smiles at me in thanks for making her sister happy again.

A little while later, we're being escorted through the Everfree and back to Ponyville. The sun has raised by now, and we're all grinning and smiling as Luna awkwardly mingles.
After a while, Celestia announces that Twilight will be staying in Ponyville to study the Magic of Friendship. I cock an eyebrow at that, but I don't say anything.
After that, something happens that tugs at my heartstrings.

"Uh, Peter?" Fluttershy whispers. I don't notice above the sound of the crowd. Twilight asks me a question.
"Hey, if you'd like, you could stay in the library with me. I've got a lot of room, and with just Spike to keep me company, it could get a bit hard to clean it all..."
I smile at her. "Oh, that sounds great! Alright, I'll stay with you."
Twilight nods, and frowns as she seems to have noticed something behind me. "Fluttershy, is something the matter?" Twilight asks.
I turn around, and see that Fluttershy is drawing behind her mane in meek embarrassment. I frown as I kneel down. "Everything okay?" I ask softly. She simply blushes, and I frown as I try to get her to stick around. "Flutters, come on - if you've got something to say, just say it! Don't make me strap you down and torture it out of you..."
She smiles a bit at my joke, and finally loosens up. "I...I wanted to ask...if you wanted to...stay at my cottage...but you're already...staying with...Twilight...and...eep!"
I smile as I pat her on the head. "Fluttershy, I'd love to stay with you," I inform her.
"You...you would?" She asks, a hopeful sparkle appearing in her eyes.
I nod. "Yeah, I would. But I've been in your cottage before - you've got next to no room in there for me! I'd be in the way of everything, Flutters. So...if you don't mind...I'll be staying at Twilight's, just so I'm not in your way."
Fluttershy smiles at me, and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you...you're very considerate..."
I smile with a nod, and give her a quick hug before standing back to my full height. Twilight smiles at Fluttershy and I, and we continue with the day as usual.




As the day is coming to a close, Celestia has Luna raise the moon. I immediately start to clap as soon as the moon shows its crest. Luna looks to me with tears of pride and one thousand years of regret in her eyes, and pretty soon, everypony around me has joined in on the fanfare.
Once that's done, I realize how damn tired I am. I let out a large yawn, and watch in awe as Luna spreads the stars from her mane - from her mane!
Before she leaves, I tell her how beautiful her night is. She smiles, and gives me a quick kiss on the nose. After that, Celestia reluctantly pulls her away so they can attend to the business they have to attend to in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria.
The last thing I see as they fade into the distance is Celestia wrapping her wing around Luna.




Twilight leads me back to the library. I smile as I hungrily consume the pastry that Pinkie Pie gave me. After several minutes of talking about what will be going on pretty soon, Twilight goes upstairs to put her baby dragon, Spike, to sleep. I resist the urge to examine Spike as closely as possible.
Once he's tucked in, she comes back down and smiles at me. We begin to speak about our plans for daily activities, and we decide that, at least for the next few days, I should go with her when she goes to meet friends or go shopping, so I can get used to Ponyville. I agree with her idea, and she levitates a pile of sheets and pillows over to me after pointing out the guest bedroom.
After a quick good-night, I go into the guest room and lie down, hoping I can actually get a good amount of sleep...